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Peru to host 2013 General Conference of the UN Industrial Development Organization

VIENNA, 21 November 2012 – The Government of Peru will host the fifteenth session of the General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Lima from 2 to 6 December 2013.

A decision on this was adopted by the UNIDO Industrial Development Board taking place this week at the Organization’s headquarters in Vienna.

“We firmly believe that the next step in Peru’s development must be industrialization. This will generate more competitive businesses and quality jobs. This is the aspiration of all developing countries, and we know this is no easy task. We also know that UNIDO is our great ally, and that we can count on the support of Member States to work on projects that will result in mutual benefits,” said the Peruvian Minister of Production, Gladys Triveño.

Since UNIDO became a specialized agency in 1985, the General Conference had taken place away from Vienna only twice: in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1987, and in Yaoundé, Cameroon, in 1993.

Kandeh K. Yumkella, the Director-General of UNIDO, added that “holding the Organization’s General Conference in Lima would be an important milestone and a reminder of the importance of the Lima Declaration and Plan of Action on Industrial Development and Cooperation, which had been adopted at the Second General Conference of UNIDO in Lima in March 1975”. He also said that Latin America was a very important region for UNIDO with a range of projects being implemented, and that in Lima Member States could “renew their commitment to promote industrial development and South-South cooperation.”

The General Conference in Lima had recommended to the General Assembly that UNIDO be converted into a specialized agency.

The Ambassador of Peru, Antonio Javier Alejandro Garcia Revilla, said that holding the General Conference away from Vienna Headquarters would be “a unique opportunity for Peru, as well as for Latin America”, and “emphasize the importance of industry in the overall economic and social development.”

He noted that some of the countries of the region were already members of the G20, BRICS and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

“Peru is honored to host UNIDO’s General Conference in Lima. This will provide an opportunity for Latin America and the Caribbean to show how the country and the region have been cooperating with other regions, and to explore new opportunities,” said Ambassador Garcia Revilla.

The Industrial Development Board meets once a year to review the implementation of the work programme, the regular and operational budgets and makes recommendations to the Conference on policy matters, including the appointment of the Director-General. In the framework of the current session, two side events took place. One on the experience of BRICs in achieving competitiveness, innovation and job creation, and one on the Green Industry Platform, a global high-level multi-stakeholder partnership intended to act as a forum for catalyzing, mobilizing and mainstreaming action on green industry around the world.